What do monitoring and control mean?

For every treatment program there are specific chemical concentration ranges, where it functions best and provides the intended protection. If not properly controlled any chemical program can fail, leading to possible lost production, increased maintenance cost and increased energy usage.

For daily system control, easy tests are available for things such as conductivity, pH, alkalinity, hardness, and chlorine treatment levels. The necessary control tests must be consistently run and corrective action taken when one variable is out of balance. Daily control is the foundation for a successful treatment program.

Several monitoring tools are available to determine the conditions of cooling system:

ü  Corrosion Coupons – To establish relative corrosion rates of different metals in cooling systems, small metal strips called corrosion coupons can be used. Ideally the corrosion coupons should be installed in re-circulating system for period of 6 to 12 months, then removed, cleaned and weighed again. The difference in the coupon’s weight before and after exposure is used in calculating the corrosion rate.

ü  Corrater- An electronic instrument that measures the corrosion and pitting tendencies in a cooling system. It provides an instantaneous, direct reading of the system’s corrosion rate in mils per year (mpy) when its probe is inserted into the cooling water.

ü  Corrosion Test Rack – Evaluate the effectiveness of corrosion inhibition programs on non-heat transfer surfaces. It is designated to be used with either corrosion coupons or corrator probes.

ü  Deposit monitor- An aid in examining the performance of a cooling water program. A sample tube of proper metallurgy is surrounded by a glass jacket. The metal surface sample can be observed at any time during the testing. Heat transfer rates can be simulated using a cartridge heater and cooling water flows regulated with a control valve.